Midwest clean hydrogen hub secures USD 1bn from US DoE

The Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2) has been selected as one of the seven regional clean hydrogen hubs that will be created across the US with USD 7 billion (EUR 6.6bn) in federal funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The awards were announced on Friday, with MachH2 poised to receive up to USD 1 billion.

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The project, spanning mainly Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, is a partnership of more than 70 public and private organisations, including the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) Argonne National Laboratory, which will provide technical contributions in the areas of lifecycle assessment and techno-economic analysis.

When announcing the hub winners, the DoE said that MachH2 is located in an important industrial and transportation corridor and will seek to decarbonise industries such as steel and glass production, power generation, oil refining and heavy-duty transportation. Hydrogen would be produced using diverse energy sources, including renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear energy.

US energy producer Constellation Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CEG), a participant in MachH2, said on Monday it will play a key role in the USD-1-billion hub as it will use part of the hub funding to build the world’s largest nuclear-powered clean hydrogen production facility at its LaSalle Clean Energy Centre in Illinois. This hydrogen facility is estimated to cost about USD 900 million, with a portion of the MachH2 award offsetting the project’s cost, the company added.

MachH2 is set to create 13,600 direct jobs, including 12,100 in construction and 1,500 permanent jobs.

The hub expects to start award negotiations with the DoE in the winter of 2023/24.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.949)